Fourth International Signs of Safety Gathering - Single Day

This Gathering will feature:

• Presentations from the leading Signs of Safety practitioners and agencies from around the world
• Presentations from Bureaus Jeugdzorg Drenthe and Zeeland who lead the Netherlands in the use of this approach
• Sessions focused on Signs of Safety practice leadership and supervision
• Two sessions on management and organisational process that builds the Signs of Safety approach. Terry Murphy, Director General of the Western Australian Department for Child Protection, will lead this aspect of the Gathering
• Concluding reflection session by Professor Eileen Munro.

Interest in the Signs of Safety is growing exponentially in Europe, North America and Australia, with full-scale implementations of the model currently underway in at least 46 jurisdictions in 11 different countries. The Signs of Safety approach is creating enormous energy and interest because it is focused on what actually works for front-line practitioners. The Signs of Safety gatherings provide the opportunity for participants to hear the leading exponents of the approach describe what Signs of Safety means at its best. There will only be one presentation stream throughout the gathering with no concurrent sessions. This builds energy and focus because all participants hear the same presentations and share the same learning journey over the two and a half days of the event.

The Netherlands Gathering is modeled on the three previous international Signs of Safety Gatherings (Gateshead 2005 and 2008, and Minnesota in March 2010). The Gatherings are critical events which accelerate the ongoing evolution of Signs of Safety, as professionals and agencies using the approach learn from the successes, struggles, specialties, refinements and variations of their peers. Special attention at this gathering will be given to the issues of practice leadership and organizational implementation. The Gathering is strictly limited to 300 participants and places will be taken up quickly.

The Netherlands Gathering will break new ground to enhance the learning opportunities for all attendees by using interactive film and web-based processes to directly involve participants in giving feedback and asking questions in realtime during the program. The Netherlands Gathering will also be streamed live on the web which will enable those not able to be in Leiden to purchase access to the event and presentations. Web participants will also be able to directly participate in the gathering through a web-based digital feedback process. We recommend that all digital participants view this page to test their ability to receive the live stream before the gathering begins to avoid disappointment.

As with all great professional gatherings, some of the best learning and benefit comes through the connections and relationships that occur around the formal program. Following the tradition of previous Signs of Safety gatherings and to foster the opportunities to build informal connections, there will be a dinner and dance party on Tuesday evening. The dinner is registered for separately to the gathering, you can do so here.

Program

A copy of the full programme is available here.

Monday and Tuesday
On both Monday and Tuesday mornings, there will be two 60-minute presentations focusing particularly on organizations that have been implementing the Signs of Safety ap- proach for a significant period.
In the afternoons there will be five 30-minute presentations from individual practitioners and agencies.

Tuesday morning will also feature the first of two presentations from Terry Murphy, Director General of the Department for Child Protection in Western Australia. On Tuesday, Terry will make an initial 45 minute overview presentation looking at the issues involved in implementing the Signs of Safety through all aspects of case practice based on the implementation within his agency. He will reflect on the reasons to choose Signs of Safety, the steps, the successes, the challenges and the lessons learned.

Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, Terry Murphy will head a panel of Senior Managers and Directors exploring the issue of implementation. Each panel member will describe their own key experiences in implementation and the panel will also respond to participants’ feedback and questions stimulated from Terry’s Tuesday presentation.

Professor Eileen Munro, who will have completed the Munro Review into the English Child Protection system by mid 2011, will participate in the Signs of Safety Gathering drawing the event to a
close by providing her reflections on the presentations she has heard. Professor Munro’s contribution will engage all participants in reflecting on their learning and struggles and will connect the presentations to the bigger issues that always swirl around, intersect and drive child protection practice. This final session will help all participants think more broadly about the connections between their own contexts and current policy and social issues that face all child protection practitioners and organizations and assist us as we seek to build more collaborative child protection methods.

The Gathering will close with a dynamic audio/visual recap and reprise of the Gathering presentations and experiences interspersed with feedback from Gathering participants.
The Gathering will end by 12.30pm Wednesday followed by lunch.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds of payments (less 15% booking fee) will be made if notification is received by August 5th before the gathering takes place. We will not be able to refund payments if cancellation is made after that date, however participants are welcome to send substitutes. In the latter case please email the name of the replacement to registrations@ signsofsafety.net